


You Can't Save the Damned

by kettlepot



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Ancient Egypt AU, Deathshipping, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-29 03:26:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6357037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kettlepot/pseuds/kettlepot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A stranger stumbles into Ryou's apothecary severely wounded and Ryou is determined to save him. But you can't exactly save what's already dead. Ancient Egyptian Deathshipping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Life?

**Author's Note:**

> Alrighty, this is my first attempt at Deathshipping. It's probably godawful but what can you do. I took a very long time to write and edit this because I really want to improve my writing and get better at this. i don't know if I'll continue this or not. I suppose if people want me to then I will but as for now it's just a cliffhanger, seeing as how i don't have any other chapters written. Hope you enjoy it, though!  
> -warning for very mild gore. I don't go into gruesome detail but I do talk about it a bit so if you're super sensitive to stuff like that, I'd suggest not reading this.-

Ryou was dusting off some shelves when he saw him. A gorgeous stranger with wild blonde hair and mad lavender eyes. He had stumbled in, feverish and trembling, barely clinging to life. His spiked hair was disheveled and his dark robe and black shenti were obviously drenched with blood. He pulled out a knife with a shaky grip and said,

"You're going to help me, healer. If you don't, I'll kill you."

Ryou rolled his eyes. The man in front of him could barely walk, let alone stab him. But Ryou supposed he should let him keep the knife for now. No point in fighting and causing the other more injury.

"Come along. You can sit over here." Ryou led him to a cot that rested in the back of the room. The man sat down and glared at Ryou. "Now tell me what happened."

"No."

"Then I can't treat you. I'm not going to ask why, I just need to know what I'm treating."

"I got a stake in my stomach. I didn't pull it out, I just snapped it off." 

Ryou's eyes widened as he pushed the stranger's robes off his shoulders. There was an inch wide wooden stake in his abdomen. His eyes widened further when he saw the ornate scars adorning his body but he kept this to himself.

"Well, it's a good thing you didn't pull it out. You would have bled to death if you had. It's a miracle you made it here." Ryou rushed off to grab supplies. He came back with an armful of bandages, poultices, Frankincense, and Cedar Oil. The stranger had laid down, still clutching his knife tightly with one hand and clutching his stomach with the other. 

"I'm going to have to pull it out."

"You're joking."

"I wish I was. It didn't go all the way through and you snapped it close to the wound so I'll have to fiddle with it to get it out, I'm afraid. Here, drink this." Ryou held the bottle of Frankincense to the stranger's lips, tilting the bottle to allow the natural pain killer to flow into his mouth. The man took a few sips before trying to shove the bottle away. 

"No. Drink all of it. You're going to need it." The man did as he was told and downed the rest of the bottle. Ryou grabbed several rags and the Cedar oil, grimacing as he returned and examined the wound closer. 

"I'm sorry. So, so sorry," he murmured.

"Don't apologize, just rip it out," the man growled. 

Ryou took a deep breath and grabbed the end of the wooden stake, pulling it out quickly and immediately pressing Cedar oil soaked rags to the wound in order to staunch the blood flow. The man didn't scream. He growled, swearing, and writhing in pain but he never screamed. He tried to twist away from Ryou, who managed to keep him steady enough to avoid tearing the wound further. Ryou removed the rags and looked at the hole briefly. It didn't seem as if any of his vital organs were damaged, thankfully. He pressed poultices to the wound, tightly wrapping bandages around the man's abdomen in an attempt to stop the blood flow. The man was clutching at his stomach, whimpering quietly, his knife having long since fallen to the floor. Ryou grabbed the other's hands and pulled them away from his abdomen. Ryou pressed his cheek to the other's face. The fever hadn't gone down in the slightest. Ryou sighed and grabbed another cloth, this one damp with water. He pushed the other's blonde hair out of his eyes and laid the damp cloth over his forehead.

"It's alright, it'll be better soon. What is your name?"

"Why would I tell you my name?" the man whispered hoarsely.

"Your blood is all over my hands and you are trusting me to keep your heart from stopping. Why can't I know your name?"

The man seemed to consider it for a moment. "My name is Mariku. Tell me yours." 

"Mariku," Ryou repeated. "I'm Ryou, and I'm not going to let you die."

Mariku lay on the cot, sleeping but still feverish. Ryou sat by him, looking over him worriedly. His fever had been going for a solid four hours now and it didn't show any signs of breaking. Ryou was becoming increasingly concerned that Mariku would die. He wasn't sure why he wanted to help him. Was it because of the wild blonde spikes that he felt the urge to run his fingers through? Was it because of his fiery lavender eyes? Was it because Ryou was just a good person? No. It was because of the scars. He had obviously seen a shadow game and he had lived. It would be a shame for him to die now. So as Mariku lay dying, Ryo made a decision. A very stupid decision. He used a spell to heal Mariku. The spell transferred half his ib to the other, giving him life. Soon Mariku's fever broke and Ryou's world became black.

Ryou awoke to a gruff voice shouting at him.

"Healer. Healer, wake up. Are you dead?"

"What? What is going on?"

"Hell if I know. I woke up and you were passed out."

"Oh. Must've overdone it. How are you feeling?"

"I don't think I'm dying anymore. What do you mean you 'must've overdone it."

"It's nothing. Are you well enough to move?"

Mariku tried to sit up but fell back to bed with a groan. 

"I'll take that as a no." Ryou wandered off to get some clean bandages. "You'll probably heal up enough to move in a week or so."

"Why are you helping me?"

Ryou ignored his question and redressed the wound. 

"Would you mind telling me how you got this?"

"I think you know exactly how I got this," Mariku whispered, grinning wolfishly at Ryou, who found the grin charming instead of horrifying.

"What did you do to warrant a staking?"

"Killed a man." He said it almost conversationally, as if he were commenting on the weather.

"Why?"

"He was a terrible person that had it coming. Stop asking questions. Now tell me why you helped me."

"Stop asking questions," Ryou mocked. "I don't get as many customers, now that most everyone has gone to war but I do get the occasional mother with a sick child, so you'll have to stay in my personal quarters."

"I can't stay here."

"Yes you can."

"You'd risk your freedom for a dead man?"

"I'd risk my freedom for someone who's seen true darkness."

"You saw them."

Ryou didn't need to ask what he was referring to. 

"You've been through a shadow game. If you survived that, you deserve to live through this."

"Monsters don't deserve life."

"You're only a monster if you make it so."

"I didn't survive a shadow game."

"Then what did you do?"

"Didn't I tell you not to ask questions?"

"You should rest now. Sleep."

Ryou continued to bustle about his small apothecary while Mariku rested, wondering when he should tell Ryou what he actually was.


	2. Why Won't You Kiss Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of issues writing this. I don't know why, I was just so uninspired and I didn't want to write but I made myself do it. This is really heavily edited so I hope there are no mistakes but if there are please let me know. I don't know how many chapters this will have, but it won't have too many. It might have one or two more but, like I said, I don't want this to be super long since I've got some ideas for other stories that I'm pretty pumped about. If anyone has prompts/requests feel free to send them to me, whether it's on here or on my tumblr (which is also kettlepot) I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
> (Quick note: I feel like parts of this story, specifically Mariku's and Ryou's relationship, are either moving too fast or hella awkward. What do you guys think?)

After Ryou had fully woken he found himself in a desperate need of a scrub. He had dried blood under his fingernails and his hands were dyed red. His own _shenti_ and robe were also stained but that was nothing knew. He cleaned himself up and found Mariku attempting to stand.

"Oh no, you sit back down. You're not going anywhere in this condition."

"You don't understand, I have to get out of here," said Mariku, clutching his stomach tightly and gripping the edge of the cot so hard his knuckles were white.

"Why?" Ryou asked, head cocked to the side. He moved to Mariku and grabbed the hand that had a death grip on the cot, pulling it away and letting it rest in his until Mariku ripped it away.

"I'm dangerous."  
  
"Uh-huh. I've had knives held to my throat before, what you did was nothing new."

"You sound bored."

"I am. If you're going to threaten me, at least get creative with it. THe usual rogue with a rusty knife gets so old." Ryou giggled. Mariku looked at him as if he'd grown a second head, but soon laughed with him.

"You're an odd one," Mariku murmured as their laughter died down.

"You're not wrong. Now sit back down." Ryou pushed him back down lightly, resting his hand over Mariku's heart. It was much slower than it should have been and Ryou looked confused. Mariku was just forcing himself to sit up, despite his condition, so his heart should be racing. Yet it pumped so slowly, it almost couldn't be felt. He leaned down and pressed his ear to his chest, trying to see if he could hear it. Mariku ran his fingers through Ryou's white hair before pulling him away roughly. Ryou looked equally confused and pleased. He bit his lower lip out of habit and turned away to hide the blush on his cheeks. He started to pull the bandages off Mariku's wound and began to wipe up the dried blood. Mariku looked thoroughly pleased with himself. Ryou had to pull Mariku's _shenti_ down slightly to wipe up some stray blood spatter. His cheeks grew rosy as he made quick work of the task. Mariku smirked and murmured,

"Maybe you should be careful doing things like that. I might get the wrong idea."

"We certainly wouldn't want that happening." Ryou flashed him a wide smile as he pulled the cot Mariku lay on back to the room that served as his personal quarters. Mariku's eyes widened fractionally. He wasn't one to boast, but Mariku was rather well built and by no means light. The fact that Ryou, this pale, beautiful creature that looked more angelic than human could pull him around as if he weighed nothing made Mariku bite the inside of his cheek. Ryou really could take him in a fight if he wanted to.

* * *

 

Mariku felt oddly close to Ryou as the days passed on, though he wasn't sure why. He knew it was wrong to want to pull the other one down to him and smother him with kisses but gods he wanted to. He wanted to so badly it hurt. He knew he desired Ryou. No, desire wasn't a strong enough word. He lusted for him. Ryou was an angel that Mariku wanted to break in the most delicious ways. But there was something else that Mariku didn't understand. A puttering sensation in his chest. He noticed it earlier when Ryou was touching him. Something in his chest knotted and twisted and clenched. Something he hadn't had in a very long time.

Ryou bustled about his small shop, restocking the shelves and cleaning up the evidence of the stranger sleeping in the back room. He threw out the bloodied rags and bandages, wiping down the bloody floor, attempting to ignore the coppery smell that flooded the room. When finished he went back to check on Mariku, who was still lying in the bed and staring at the ceiling.

"I need to change your bandages again."

Mariku said nothing. Ryou took this as a green light to clean his wound and began his work. He removed the bandages and looked over the, for lack of a better word, hole. The bleeding had went on for the first few days but it had since stopped and it had scabbed over in places. The stake didn't actually pierce clean through, instead it splintered inside of him, leaving bits and pieces of skin ripped but still intact. The smell of blood returned to the room full force and Ryou fought the urge to curl his nose. Despite working in an apothecary, he despised that smell. He pulled out new bandages and other supplies that he would need to clean it and set them down.

"The bleeding has stopped and it's healing much better than expected. Now I'll need to stitch it up."

Mariku still said nothing.

"I'm thinking of amputating your midsection. Thoughts?" Ryou tried to crack a morbid joke in hopes to get Mariku to respond in some way but he still said nothing. Ryou sighed and went back to work, grabbing needle and thread along with more Frankincense. He held it to Mariku's lips, asking him to drink it but the other pushed it away.

"You need something to dull the pain," Ryou said as he pressed the bottle against Mariku's lips, trying to ignore how his fingertips also brushed against them.

This time Mariku grunted and shook his head, snapping at Ryou's fingers with his teeth. Ryou's white brows knit together as he gave Mariku a look that said he wasn't giving him an option.

"Just do it and get it over with. I need to get out of here," Mariku spat, making a face and turning his head away. His frustration only grew when Ryou started giggling. "What's so funny?"

"You. You seem to keep forgetting about the gaping hole in your stomach. If you drink this, I can stitch it up and you'll be better within a week or two," Ryou said after he stopped giggling. He supposed he shouldn't have laughed but he found it so absurd that the other thought he was in any condition to move around.

"Why?" Mariku turned to Ryou, his brows knit together and a somber look in his lavender eyes. Ryou didn't care for it at all, nor did he understand why he was upset.

"It will dull the pain," Ryou explained. "What's the matter, Mariku?"

"You know that's not what I meant," Mariku whispered. "And why do you care?"

"What do you mean?" Ryou decided to ignore the latter portion of Mariku's sentence. Caring was dangerous.

"Why did you do it?" Mariku asked as he laid his hand on his chest, feeling the faint heartbeat that shouldn't have been there.

"Why did I do what?" Ryou's eyes went wide. Was Mariku referring to the spell? There was no way he could know about it, so how did he?

"The spell. Why did you do it?" Mariku looked up at the man who gave him a heart, staring into his deep cocoa colored eyes.

"How did yo-"

"I can feel it. I have a heartbeat. Why?" Mariku grabbed Ryou's hand and laid it over his heart so the other could feel the faint, barely-there thumps of the heart that shouldn't be there.

"I- I just wanted to help. I'm sorry. Why did it take you so long to notice?" Ryou wasn't sure why he apologized but he felt like he should. He returned Mariku's gaze and found himself leaning closer without meaning to.

"You apologize too much. Stop. It's so faint and it's been so long since I've had one, I didn't realize it was there," said Mariku, licking his lips subconciously.

"Will you tell me what happened?" Ryou whispered, feeling Mariku's warm breath wash over his own lips.

"No," Mariku shook his head, almost bumping their noses together.

"You have my heart and you can't tell me?" Their eyes darted from each other's gaze to the other's lips but neither moved.

"No. It's not safe." Mariku turned his head from Ryou, facing the wall.

Ryou was about to pull the other's face back and press their lips together and kiss him until their lips burned but he was interrupted by loud knocks outside. He snapped up and left Mariku, smoothing out his robes and stepping outside. Mariku looked up in worry, seeing as Ryou obviously hadn't been expecting anyone. He sat up, wincing at the sharp pain that flooded his abdomen. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, clutching at his stomach as he tried to stand. He had to get out of here.

Ryou walked into the front room, jumping lightly when he saw the two bulky guards standing in his shop. Their armor looked regal and rich and their weapons were bronze and matching. They were obviously part of the royal guard.

"Hello. Do you need something?" Ryou greeted them politely, having a strong feeling he knew why they were here.

"We are looking for someone. He goes by the name Mariku and has spiked yellow hair with a violet cloak."

"No. Why?" Ryou lied smoothly. Just as he suspected. They were looking for Mariku. Ryou was a little dissapointed at their description of him. He was sculpted like a god and had hair that looked like sunshine itself and the most expressive, piercing lavender eyes Ryou had ever seen and the best they could come up with was 'yellow hair and a violet cloak'.

"He's an escaped criminal."

"Oh. Well, I hope you find him soon. Wouldn't want someone that dangerous running loose. Do you need anything else?" More lies.

"No. We'll be going now."

They left and Ryou let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He walked back to the back room where he found Mariku attempting to stand.

"What in the hell? Sit back down before you hurt yourself, they're gone." Ryou moved over to him and lightly shoved him back down to the bed, letting his hand linger on the other's chest for a moment too long.

"I need to leave before they find out I'm here," Mariku whispered, frantic. He was shaking and breathing heavily.

"They aren't going to find out," Ryou assured him, trying to stroke his hair in an attempt to calm him down. Ryou noted that his forehead felt warm. Not quite burning up but warmer than usual. Ryou attributed it to the fact that he had just been trying to stand. Again.

"They will."

"No they won't. Although, you're going to tell me what's going on."

Mariku shook his head and turned away from Ryou.

"Why are they looking for you?"

"Didn't I say not to ask questions."

"I just lied for you. They said you were an escaped criminal. I'd like to know if I'm harboring a fugitive."

"You are."

"What did you do?"

"I told you. I killed a man."

"Palace guards don't hunt down a petty murderer. Who did you kill?"

"The Pharaoh's priests."

"Why?"

"I told you they deserved it. You can only hurt a child so many times before they grow and fight back." Mariku trembled as he spoke. He was covered in scars, not from shadow games, but from the rituals the priests preformed on him. They intended to make him a priest one day but Mariku couldn't handle the torture anymore. Especially when they took his soul, piece by piece, saying it made them stronger. He had to stop them before he died.

"You mean-" Ryou wasn't sure exactly what happened or why but he understood what Mariku was trying to say. His father had told him stories of the priest's initiations. To put a child through that must've been horrible. His stomach turned at the thought of a young Mariku being subject to so much pain and suffering.

"They put me through the shadows. They took my soul because they needed power. They did this to me. And I fought back because I didn't want to die. I don't want to die. I thought I was ready but I'm not."

"You won't die. I won't let it happen. Now calm down, your fever is coming back."

"Why? Why the hell do you care?"

"I- I don't. But you've been through to much to die. You deserve to live." His sentence held another lie, but Mariku didn't need to know that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: This started out at 500 words but by the time I finished editing it was up to 2,000 words. Definitely one of the longer things I've written.


End file.
